In the south-east Mediterranean region, the so-called 'Fertile Crescent', the modern world began its development at the very beginning of human civilisation. People living there were among the first in the world to domesticate plants and animals, and many of the ideas and objects that are in common use today originated from that area. The papers collected in this volume are based on papers presented at an international conference titled The Land of Fertility: The South-East Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to the Muslim Conquest, which was focused on this very special region, and the processes prevalent there after the end of the Stone Age.